The United States Basketball Writers Association has selected 12 outstanding first-year players for its 2013 Integris Wayman Tisdale Award Midseason Watch List. Three players from the Big 12 were chosen - the second-most of any conference in the nation.

Isaiah Austin of Baylor, Ben McLemore of Kansas and Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart were all included. The trio all rank in the top 10 in the Big 12 in scoring.

Members of the association's board of directors chose the players to be included on the list as contenders for the national freshman of the year award.

The award is to be presented to the national freshman of the year at the Devon Energy College Basketball Awards on April 15 at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The Oscar Robertson Trophy presented by Aflac and the Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award will also be presented at the gala to be held annually the Monday following the NCAA Men's Final Four.

The USBWA has chosen a national freshman of the year since the 1988-89 season. The Big 12 has had three past winners - Michael Beasley, Kansas State (2007-08), Kevin Durant, Texas (2006-07) and T.J. Ford, Texas (2001-02).

The late Wayman Tisdale was a three-time USBWA All-American at the University of Oklahoma. Following a stint on the 1984 U.S. Olympic basketball team, he played 12 seasons in the NBA before retiring in 1997 to focus on a blossoming jazz music career. In March 2007, he was diagnosed with cancer and, following a courageous and difficult battle that included the amputation of his right leg in 2008, he passed away in May 2009.

The Integris Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award is produced by Access Sports, an Oklahoma City-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to supporting various charitable causes, including funding prosthetic devices for needy individuals through the Wayman L. Tisdale Foundation, educational scholarships through the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and funding of youth basketball programs throughout the state of Oklahoma through Wayman's Lightning Basketball League.